Dragon Dreams
by Kia1983-2003
Summary: Annbrith has clutched a large clutch of Eggs. Will they be able to find enough Candidates to Stand? And what will Koria do about the illegal happenings around the Weyr? Set ten Turns before the 12th Pass. AIVAS was not found so Thread will still Fall.
1. Chapter 1

Koria walked around the large clutch on the Sands. It was a healthy one with thirty eggs. She was rather surprised as it was probably the largest one in the past ten Turns. Annbrith was curled up around them, quite pleased with herself. That's when Koria noticed the last egg.

"So there's thirty one!" Koria exclaimed, moving to look at the egg her Queen held in her forepaws, "You were keeping it as a surprise?"

}: Oh, yes. I thought you would be pleased to have this as a surprise. We are quite short on Queens right now. :{ Annbrith replied, chuckled softly, }: So I figured I would make it a surprise. Delwynth and I made a very lovely clutch, didn't we? :{

"A very lovely clutch, indeed. I don't think there's been a clutch like this in at least ten Turns," Koria told her, stroking her gold's muzzle gently.

"It's because Thread will be coming soon," F'tel said softly as he came up behind her, "A gold Egg? Wonderful. We're down to just you and a retired Queen. Wonder which of the lovely ladies we have will Impress."

"Not sure. I'm just hoping we can find enough Candidates to give the dragons a choice. We need at least sixty to give them a good choice," Koria said, walking towards the Stands, "I don't expect other Weyrs to offer their Candidates. Everyone needs Candidates right now. I wouldn't want them short just to ensure we aren't."

F'tel sighed softly, "Yes, we definitely don't want to short our other Weyrs. I'm sure the crafthalls won't mind if we Search there. Udon Hold has said they will welcome us with open arms and so will their surrounding cotholds. So that will give us a fairly good chance of finding some Candidates. We have twenty here."

Koria nodded, "It should be three sevendays before these eggs Hatch. Let's send our Search riders out to Udon Hold today. I would like them to do a sweep over the cotholds and see if they can find Candidates there as well. I'll speak with the Weyrlingmaster as I would like to ensure classes are set up soon."

F'tel nodded and with a little bow, made his way out of the Hatching Grounds. Koria sighed softly. She hoped that they would have enough Candidates to give the babies a good choice. If they didn't, the day of the Hatching would end up a very sad event indeed. It was wonderful that Udon Hold would welcome a Search, but she just didn't think they would be forty plus Candidates out of them.

}: It will work. We will have a wonderful Hatching and my babies will find the ones they need. :{ Annbrith said, her voice soft and soothing, }: If we can even get fifteen more that would be a good number. We've even got littles who couldn't Stand now old enough to Stand. :{

"Yes, but do we want all children who are too young to fly in the fighting Wings to Impress? I don't want our fighting Wings to consist of children fresh from the crèche," Koria replied, sitting down on one of the benches, "But we'll try to find enough. If not… maybe I'll ask for one or two from up North."

She loved Insperi Weyr. It was in the Southern Continent and there were trees and green all around. They were living in a hollow mountain that had plenty of lovely little weyrs for their riders to live in. They had spent ten Turns looking for the right Weyr. There were small cots on the beaches for those that wanted to have a beach cottage. There were lovely trails that allowed people to explore Southern Continent without going too far from the Weyr. People had been coming to Insperi quite often and staying. It was another issue they had to deal with. In two Turns they had increased in criminal activity. She wanted that dealt with. They were to be a Weyr where people could feel safe.

Once Annbrith had fallen asleep, Koria made her way out of the Hatching Sands. There was quite a bit of work ahead of her. She needed to deal with the Candidate issues and as well the problems with people who came to Insperi without transfer papers. Being a Weyrwoman meant a lot of work for her. She didn't mind it though. It was invigorating. Well… she didn't mind it most times.


	2. Chapter 2

F'tel was excited. It was had been the first time Delwynth had won a Weyrleadership flight. They had produced a very large clutch and it was going to be a wonderful Hatching. He had no worries when it came to getting enough Candidates. He was sure that it would all work out. He was sure however that it would take a lot of work in order to get the sixty some Candidates they wanted.

**Call Rasth and Obamth. We'll start with Udon Hold and see how many potentials they have. After that we can get them to do a sweep over the small cotholds and see if they can sense anything.** F'tel asked Delwynth, looking up at the Fire Heights to see his bronze, **Are you happy with your clutch?**

}: I am very happy. I shall let Annbrith rest before visiting however. I'll call those two right now for you. I can't wait to see my Eggs. :{ Delwynth said, excitement quite evident in his voice, }: Rasth and Obamth, Mine would like you and your riders to meet him in the Bowl. Be ready for some flying. :{

It was fifteen minutes later and F'tel watched as the two dragons landed in the Bowl. He grinned and waved, "Thirty one eggs including a Gold. We're to go on Search. We're going to head to Udon Hold first as they have already stated they would help us out in any way they can. After that we'll do sweeps over the smaller cotholds. Consider this your duties for the next three sevendays."

"Oh, wow. That's quite the clutch, isn't it?" A'ler responded, sliding down his green's shoulder, "How many Candidates do we have here already?"

"About twenty. We're looking for at least sixty Candidates total. We want to try and give them the best chance of finding their lifemates," the Weyrleader replied, checking his bronze's straps out, "We don't really have to work at Searching the Weyr. Rasth and Obamth can just Search quietly on your time off. You don't have to /actively/ Search, but do encourage them to let you know if they sniff any out."

"Of course. We'll definitely ensure that we encourage them," L'arn replied, grinning, "Sixty Candidates… it shouldn't be terribly hard to get that many."

"No, it shouldn't, but we don't want to aim too high and then end up disappointed if we don't get that number," F'tel replied, scratching his head, "A good number would be fifteen to twenty girls for the gold and between seventy and eighty Candidates for the rest. I don't want to say it right now, but if the Holds are worried about losing their helpers, we may compensate by finding people from around here who are willing to help out."

The two riders nodded together, "That will be good. We can always send back the ones who don't Impress once the Hatching is done. Really don't need to keep them here as there isn't Threadfall so we don't need the extra hands to bag firestone or run errands for the healers and serve riders afterwards."

"Right. So let's get going. I'll be following along to speak with Lord Tilvol. Always good to ensure that the leaders of Hold and Weyr stay good acquaintances, " F'tel said, swinging himself up onto his bronze, "So let's head to Udon then."

As soon as his riders were on the backs of their dragons and strapped in, he gave the signal to rise. He enjoyed one quick view of the Weyr and then all three popped into /between/.


	3. Chapter 3

Udon Hold was bustling with activity. It was a nice day so everyone was trying to get the things done while the rainy weather was gone. Of course all activity stopped when the three dragons came out of /between/. Dragonriders didn't come often to the Hold and when they did, everyone was curious and interested in the dragons. Udon Hold wanted to have some of their children to become riders. Actually quite a few of them had a family member in the Weyr as a rider.

Holder Jilante was outside, helping to repair one of the three wagons that had been damaged by the recent storm. He wiped a cloth across his face and headed towards where the dragons had landed. He always did enjoy going to see the dragons. He still secretly wished he had Impressed when he had been young enough. Of course what will be, will be. Perhaps they would find a clutch of firelizard eggs at some point and he could try Impressing one of those small creatures.

"Hello, Weyrleader," Jilante greeted the other man, "What brings you to Udon?"

"We've a clutch now. Annbrith laid thirty one eggs including a gold," F'tel responded, shaking the other man's outstretched hand, "And we're in need of some Candidates."

"Well you're in luck. We've got twenty young people aged twelve to twenty two. You can definitely let your dragons inspect them to see if there are any that can be Candidates," he replied, gesturing for them to come with him, "Why don't you come on over to the Hold and we'll get our youngsters to come out."

The group walked down to the Hold, leaving the dragons in the field. F'tel chatted with the Holder as A'ler and L'arn followed behind. Once at the Hold, Jilante had one of the workers run to get word out that anyone under twenty two were to come to the Gather area. He sent another to get the riders some refreshments.

"Thirty one eggs including a gold," Jilante said, "That's a fairly large clutch, isn't it? Do you believe that means Fall will be coming in the next few years?"

"It could mean that. We'll have to keep an eye out for the other signs as well," F'tel replied, watching as the young people started to flow from the hold and areas, "We'll probably have to have a Weyrleaders conference to discuss that before we really bring it out to the Holders of Pern. It's not really something to discuss lightly or to allow to get into the general population. We don't want to scare people until we are sure."

Jilante nodded, "Aye, that's true. Alright, here's the group of youngsters that Udon has to offer."

A'ler and L'arn got the look on their features that indicated they were conversing with their dragons, "They request that they get to meet them first. They want to… sniff them."

"Does it help?" a youngster asked, the lad looking no more than fifteen turns of age.

"Not really. They just like to meet people," A'ler chuckled, "Now, come on. They are very anxious to meet you."

"Obamth senses that there is someone in the group. Perhaps more than one," L'arn told them, starting off towards his dragon.

There was excited chatter as they trekked over to the dragons. Every one of the young people were chatting as they came up to the dragons, wondering how many eggs there were and who were the ones that were going to be Searched. It was a very, very exciting thing to have happen to the Hold. They all stopped talking as they lined up in front of the three great beasts. Looks of awe touched their features as they gazed at the dragons and F'tel could see the hopefulness on each one of their faces. It was grand to see a Hold encourage their young people towards wanting to be a rider.

F'tel chuckled as he watched the two Search dragons lower their heads and start to sniff at the Candidates. Obamth nudged one out of the line up and then a second. Rasth nudged a third one out near the end of the lineup.

"They've made their decisions. Those not pushed, sorry you weren't chosen. Thos three that were pushed out, please come forward," F'tel told the group, "What are your names and ages?"

There were two boys and a girl. F'tel chuckled at the looks of amazement and shock on their features. It always was wonderful to see how awe struck kids got when they were Searched.

"I'm Halon and I'm thirteen Turns old," the youngest one said, grinning excitedly now.

"I'm Gregin and I'm fifteen Turns," the second boy replied.

"I'm Kita and I'm eighteen Turns," the girl responded and F'tel breathed a sigh of relief as he didn't want really young girls when there was a Gold.

"Alright. I would like you all to go and talk with your parents or whoever is in charge of you. Pack up your things and then meet us back out here," F'tel said, "You'll be taken today back to the Weyr as we would like you to get started into Candidate classes as soon as possible. There are thirty Eggs on the Sands and one gold Egg."

"Wow!" came the excited responses of all three.

"Alright, off with you three now."

"I'm glad it was those three. They're very good kids," Jilante told F'tel, "The girl is very strong willed however."

"All the better for a Queenrider," F'tel chuckled, "Thank you for allowing us to come in. Not every hold allows us in without a fight."

"I figure it makes my Hold look better to have many riders coming from our bloodlines," Jilante replied.

"That it does. That it does," F'tel said, putting his hand out to shake the other man's.

"Well, I should get back to work. Need to finish repairing the wagons," Jilante said after shaking F'tel's hand. He walked off after with a wave.


End file.
